Free Republic

Tiny-house communities are popping up across the country, but one family in Kentucky has created a village of their own. Keli and Ryan Brinks live in a tiny house in Kentucky. Their 18-year-old daughter, Lennox, and their 16-year-old son, Brodey, also live in their own tiny houses next door. Together, their six tiny homes create a unique living situation with the goal of sustainable living. Here's how the Brinks family makes their tiny village work. Since tiny houses produce less waste, require less heating, and can be more environmentally friendly, the family knew it was the right fit. "Initially, my...

One of the best parts of the growing tiny house trend is that designers in all parts of the world are encouraged to find the most sustainable building solutions, without sacrificing modern comfort. The Freeland House is a great example of that. The Freeland House is really tiny, but an example of sustainability and beautiful design There are a few things that make the times we’re living in particularly interesting. One of them is the possibility of having a home shipped to you, no matter where you live. The concept of prefab (prefabricated) homes isn’t new, but their current availability...

Thirty three square meters [355 square feet] of land doesn't seem big enough to build a house on. But architect and educator Choi Min-wook designed a five-story residential building for himself, his wife and their cat on a tiny plot of land in the heart of Seoul.

... The M.A.Di Home was created by Italian architect, Renato Vidal. It is earthquake resilient and has the eco-friendly capacity to become completely off-grid with solar panels, LED lighting and rain water systems. The home can be built at any location without the need for it to be constructed on concrete foundations. The assembly process takes a team of three people just six to seven hours, and involves each module being unfolded before roof pitches, interiors walls and flooring are added. ...

In Helsinki, like many cities, there isn’t enough housing to keep up with demand. Some people blame a lack of land to build new housing, but one design firm argues that there is enough land–if you know where to look. The firm’s new building is designed to fit in a single parking spot. “The city is not designed because of humans–it’s designed because of cars,” says architect Marco Casagrande, principal at the Helsinki-based Casagrande Laboratory, which designed the new tiny house. “All the streets in cityscapes are based on car dimensions. This I found a little bit strange. We have...

PATHS TO PROGRESS   Residents, who include formerly homeless people and those who were in foster care, pay low rent on houses that range from 250 to 400 square feet. After paying rent for seven years, they will be given the deeds to their homes. DETROIT—In 2013, when Keith McElvee got out of prison after a 12-year stint for a drug conviction, he returned to a neighborhood in northwest Detroit that he didn’t recognize. “This is like Beirut,” he thought. “Like a war zone.” Mr. McElvee is naturally gregarious and social-minded. Out of prison he struggled, but then found work...

High housing costs have prompted some in the middle and upper classes to rethink what they value – and be willing to give up the rest. SEATTLE; AND LOS ANGELES — When Shawna Nelson leaves her office in Seattle’s suburbs, she does what 28-year-olds often do: dines with friends, goes out dancing, or sees a show. Sometimes she hits her swanky gym. But at the end of the night Ms. Nelson always returns to Dora, the dusty Ford Explorer she calls home. In the back, where a row of seats should be, lies a foam mattress covered with fuzzy animal-print...

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles man says he’s found a solution to the city’s housing crisis in the most unlikeliest of places. T.K. Devine wants to help solve L.A.’s homeless problem with portable toilets. “Folks who are living it rough and living on the streets and are trying to make a better life for themselves, they need consistency,” Devine told CBS Los Angeles. “They need a good night’s rest.” The 35-year-old founder of Porta-Home is converting portable toilets into portable homes out of a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, including one built for himself....The system rests on a trailer that...

Last year we noted, via the Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, that rents in San Francisco and surrounding areas had grown so out of control that even Ivy Leaguers, like 31 year old Luke Iseman of The Wharton School, were having a hard time making ends meet. After growing tired of renting a run down, tiny apartment for $4,200 per month, Iseman decided to take a novel approach to housing. So he rented out a warehouse space and filled it with 11 steel shipping containers that he now rents out as makeshift apartments for $1,000 per month. We learn more from Bloomberg:...

For over a decade, architecture students at Rural Studio, Auburn University's design-build program in a tiny town in West Alabama, have worked on a nearly impossible problem. How do you design a home that someone living below the poverty line can afford, but that anyone would want—while also providing a living wage for the local construction team that builds it? In January, after years of building prototypes, the team finished their first pilot project in the real world. Partnering with a commercial developer outside Atlanta, in a tiny community called Serenbe, they built two one-bedroom houses, with materials that cost...

It appears the old adage holds true: when it comes to real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. The wooden shack that was on sale for $350,000 in San Francisco’s trendy Outer Mission neighborhood is officially off the market. The deal for the 765-square-foot residence closed on Thursday, with a pair of investors nabbing the property for a cool $408,000, according to Vanguard realtors.

<p>A San Antonio, Texas couple had build a 'tiny house' to commit themselves to 'green living' but the entire home ended up being stolen.</p> <p>Casey Friday says, "It was depressing, devastating, made me angry and shocked all at the same time."</p>

Architect Macy Miller had a big idea: Build a tiny house. After dealing with a messy foreclosure, the 30-year-old sought a way to have a place of her own while avoiding the mortgage trap. Her solution: Build a micro home. "I wanted a way to escape dependency on banks without being a 'renter,'" the Idaho resident told Yahoo in an email. "I like having my own space to make my own, which is difficult to do without taking out a large mortgage." Miller began to build a 196-square-foot house in 2011, right on a flatbed truck. The cost: $11,400. The...